The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1887-01-26
DEATH N 5EwE..u.nn R.ses.
casSsts Ti fX ~ 4, oisssnin Poison.


stsaset Ora. e FtSIcrR ny ssAe An-
cfsaats FikAfSS,OisfaIn Poison.
Did yon ever see poison ring ~ asked
down town ieweller the other day as he
opened bis curiosity drawer for the benefit
IF reporter.
No! Well, have one here that pick
I'd up abroad last summer and considered
quite find. Here It is, you see,n and he
produced heavily chased golden circlet,
set with three rubies, one large stone and
;wo smaller ones. A spring at the base of
the central stone, when pressed causes the
apparently solid setting to part, disclosing
receptacle large enough to hold at least
three homeopathic pills. There" ex-
planned the owner of the ring, that's how
our amiable friends of ancient times used
to keep their poison handy. In little
hole like that man could keep enough of
sne of the virulent vegetable poisons used
then to kill off twenty or thirty of his
friends or enemies, whichever happened to
be most in his way. Caesar Borgia's famous
ring was something like this one, only in
stead of spring his had a slide at the back,
where he is said to have carried the poison
ne was inrthe habit of dropping into the
vine of his ansuspecting guest. Another
kind OF poison ring, which in Venice was
called q poison ring, had attached to it
inside two claws made of the sharpest steel
and having clefts in them filed with q
powerful poison At crowded assembly
or a ball the wearer of this fatal ring, wish
ing to be revenged on any person, would
take his hand, and when pressing it, the
sharp claw would be sure to infiict slight
cut on the skin. This was enough for on the
following morning the victim would be
sure to be found dead. This ring of mine
is o genuine antique, made, as nearly as l
could discover, in tine fifteenth century.
Here is q curious old bronze ring, with
key attached. Rings of this sort were quite
common among the Romans, and were
worn by the Roman ladies, who usually
carried the key of their jewel caskets in
this way. Not very pretty, is itP And
fearfully heavy. think it must have been
winter ring You know the luxurious
Romans had heavy rings for winter
aud light ones for summer. What they
found beautiful about bronze rings I donr
know, but it seems they wore quantities of
them and sometimes they were very finely
engraved. Their wedding rings we're not
even made of bronze but of iron, which
was supposed to be symbolical of the last
ing character Of the engagement.
Did you knowthat our ancestors, the
Puritans tried to abolish wedding ringsi
Yes, they declared them to be of heather.
ish origin and succeeded for time IL
making them quite questionable, much (;
the disgust of the jewellers. l dare say the
fashion of wearing the wedding ring on the
thumb, which prevailed at the time, help
ed to make them unpopular, as it must
have been awkward and uncomfortable.
/" Here is drawing OF the marriage ring
worn by Martin Luther, the structure Of
which was very intricate. 1t is an ingen.
iously contrived double ring, every intri-
cacy of structure having its particular
meaning. Though the double ring can be
divided so as to form two complete rings,
yet they are permanently interlaced, st
that they cannot be separated from one
another, thus illustrating the marriage
VOW and the motto engraved within them
in German 49, What God hath Joined nc
man shall part The ring was designed by
the celebrated painter, Louis Cranch, Lu
theirs friend.